Soccer

Tough European draws for Irish sides

Soccer : Shamrock Rovers will play Danish champions FC Copenhagen in the Champions League third-qualifying round, if they finish…

Fri Jul 15 2011 - 01:00

Soccer: Shamrock Rovers will play Danish champions FC Copenhagen in the Champions League third-qualifying round, if they finish the job against Flora Tallin.

Rovers hold a 1-0 lead over the Estonians following the first leg, with the return fixture to be played next Tuesday in Tallinn.

Copenhagen, who won the Danish championship last season by a margin of 26 points, are of a far stronger pedigree, having reached the last 16 of the competition last year before eventually losing to Chelsea.

Meanwhile, Linfield face a tough task in getting past Bate Borisov, but should they prevail they will play either Lithuanian side FK Ekranas or Maltese league winners Valletta FC.

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Scottish champions Rangers are likely to face Swedish side Malmo, who hold a 2-0 advantage over Faroe Island champions HB Torshavn, with the second leg to be played in Torshavn next week.

The third round ties are scheduled to be played July 26th/27th and August 2nd/3rd

The Europa League third-qualifying round draw has also been made, with Sligo Roverslikely to pla FC Vorskla Poltava of Ukraine, who hold a 2-0 first-leg lead over Northern Irish side Glentoran.

St Patrick's Athleticwill remain hopeful of qualifying for the next round after getting an away goal in their 2-1 defeat to Shakter Karagandy of Kazakhstan. Should they overturn the deficit, Ukrainian outfit FC Karpaty Lviv await them.

Meanwhile, Bohemianshave a mountain to climb following last night's 2-0 defeat away to Olimpija Ljubljana. Should they pull of what would be a memorable victory, they will face either Austria Wien or Montenegrin side FK Rudar Pljevlja. The Austrian side lead 3-0 going into the second-leg.

Champions League Third Qualifying Round

FK Mogren/Litex Lovech v Skonto FC/Wisla Krakow

Maccabi Haifa/FK Borac v NK Maribor/F91 Dudelange

HJK Helsinki/Bangor City v Dinamo Zagreb/Neftci PFK

KS Skenderbeu/APOEL FC v Slovan Bratislava/Kostan

Copenhagen v Shamrock Rovers/ FC Flora Tallin

Genk v FK Partizan/ FK Skendija Rosenborg

BK/ Breidablik v FC Pyunik/Viktoria Plzen

FC Zestafoni/Dacia Chisinau v SK Strurm Graz/Videoton

Valletta/FK Ekranas v Linfield FC/Bate Borisov

Rangers v Malmo FF/HB Torshavn

Standard Liege v FC Zurich

FC Twente v FC Vaslui

Benfica v Trabzonspor

Dynamo Kiev v Rubin Kazan

Odense BK v Panathinaikos